The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play was an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre across collective Broadway, off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. The award was one of eight new acting awards first presented in 1975, when Drama Desk retired an earlier award that had made no distinction between work in plays and musicals, nor between actors and actresses, nor between lead performers and featured performers.
| Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding Actress in a Play |
| Location | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Drama Desk |
| First awarded | 1975 |
| Last awarded | 2022 |
| Website | dramadesk.org (defunct) |
After the 2022 ceremony, all eight acting categories introduced in 1975 were retired. The award for Outstanding Actress in a Play, along with Outstanding Actor in a Play, were replaced in 2023 with the gender neutral category of Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play.
Winners and nominees
edit1970s
edit1980s
edit1990s
edit2000s
edit2010s
edit2020s
edit| Year | Actress | Play | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | |||
| Liza Colón-Zayas | Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven | Sarge | |
| Rose Byrne | Medea | Medea | |
| Emily Davis | Is This a Room | Reality Winner | |
| April Matthis | Toni Stone | Toni Stone | |
| Ruth Negga | Hamlet | Hamlet | |
| 2021 | No awards: New York theatres shuttered, March 2020 to September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City[1] | ||
| 2022 | |||
| Phylicia Rashad | Skeleton Crew | Faye | |
| Tala Ashe | English | Elham | |
| Ruth Negga | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | |
| Andrea Patterson | Cullud Wattah | Ainee | |
| Shannon Tyo | The Chinese Lady | Afong Moy | |
| Michelle Wilson | Confederates | Sandra | |
Multiple wins
edit- 3 wins
- 2 wins
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Evans, Greg (2021-05-05). "Broadway To Reopen Sept. 14, Says Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Broadway League "Cautiously Optimistic"". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-12-03.